May 10 – Bhagavadgita Chapter 6; Verses 6.15 (Day 131) Adhyatma Yoga, Yoga of Meditation

 May 10 – Day 131

Verse 6.15

युञ्जन्नेवं सदात्मानं योगी नियतमानसः ।

शान्तिं निर्वाणपरमां मत्संस्थामधिगच्छति ॥ ६-१५॥ 

yuñjann evaṁ sadātmānaṁ yogī niyata-mānasaḥ
śhāntiṁ nirvāṇa-paramāṁ mat-sansthām adhigachchhati (15) 

யுஞ்ஜன்னேவம் ஸதா³த்¹மானம் யோகீ³ நியத¹மானஸ: |
ஶான்தி³ம் நிர்வாணப¹ரமாம் மத்¹ஸன்ஸ்தா²மதி⁴க³ச்¹ச²தி¹ ||15|| 

15. Thus, always keeping the mind balanced, the Yogi, with the mind controlled, attains to the peace abiding in Me, which culminates in liberation. 

Commentary: Thus: in the manner prescribed in the previous verse.

The Supreme Self is an embodiment of peace.  It is an ocean of peace.  When one attains to the supreme peace of the Eternal by controlling the modifications of the mind and keeping it always balanced, he attains to liberation or perfection. 

Commentary by Swami Venkatesananda:

The yogi seated in meditation learns ‘to balance his mind’. Kṛṣṇa, by quietly and unpretentiously slipping this verse in here, points out at this stage that the yogi’s balanced mind is not at all upset at any time. ‘Always’ warns us against the delusion that peace is attained only during meditation. If this balance or peace is itself a type of meditation, then such meditation too, is continuous and unbroken.

In fact, you will notice that the popular misconceptions about meditation are swept away by Kṛṣṇa. He does not decry or condemn them; he does not even want us to discourage others who have their own ways of approaching the truth. He wisely instructs us in the best way, his own way, in which we shall ever dwell in him.

The yogi does not enjoy the peace ‘of mind’ or ‘of meditation’, but the peace abiding in God or the peace of abiding in God. When the mind is controlled and the attention is focused on God excluding the distracting rays which reflect over the surface of the mind and leak through the senses, the yogi discovers that the whole universe is pervaded by God-consciousness, filled with God’s life and clothed in his body. In a not-so-obvious manner, it is the one divine presence that pervades all things. When that truth sinks deeper and deeper, the yogi suddenly discovers that the inside-outside divisions are non-existent. With closed eyes, he sees God within; with open eyes he sees God all round. God lives in him, and he dwells in God.

The peace of abiding in God culminates in nirvāṇa (liberation). Nirvāṇa is completely stripping oneself. There are no coverings. All covering is ignorance. Not that the yogi should go about naked; but he should (and does) cease to identify the self with the changing forms of the body and of mentality. He sees everything, right from ‘his’ (erstwhile) ego, mind and senses, down remotest object in the world, as none other than the one consciousness. Nirvāṇa is the extinction of pleasure seeking, whether it was seeking for worldly pleasure, heavenly pleasure or some other goal described as supreme bliss. 

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